(Part Three) Technology & Human Insight: Monitoring Online Reviews

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Last week we discussed the impact and influence of social media in business and marketing, and how technologies like Brandify help businesses engage with consumers on social platforms. This week we’re looking at another form of social engagement: Online reviews.

Just as social media can be utilized for conversation and dialogue, it’s evolved to include not only business listings but reviews as well. Reviews are an excellent way of listening to what customers are saying about your brand: For multilocation businesses reviews can also help identify how well each brick and mortar location is faring, and can even look at the benchmarks of competitors.

Yelp is the granddaddy of review sites, and one of the Big Six websites that Brandify monitors to help evaluate a business’ Brand Score. Yelp started in 2004 as a startup, went public in 2008 and continues to dominate as a leader in user reviews with a website and accompanying mobile app. Major sites like Facebook, Google, Bing and others have followed their lead and added review capabilities in addition to business listings.

So why are reviews so important? Like social media, they’ve become an extension of the customer experience, and major brands should have the ability to monitor this feedback. This is where the Brandify Dashboard comes in: You can easily analyze the reviews and ratings that your business receives as they come in. You can join the conversation by responding to specific reviews, and can even search for specific keywords that consumers may be using when writing a review. A brand can also easily be managed at scale: Brandify can assess dozens, hundreds, and even thousands of business locations for a single brand.

It’s important not to ignore reviews of your business, be they good or bad. Though a single bad review may seem trivial at first, recent studies show that online reviews are incredibly influential among consumers: 88% of people have been influenced by an online customer service review when they are considering making a purchase! And a good experience goes a long way to building trust––the same study found that 24% of consumers will go back to a vendor again and again after two or more years following a good experience. On the flip side, 39% of people actively avoid certain vendors for years if they had a bad experience.

Building trust, monitoring reviews and assessing the success of your brand’s digital marketing efforts can all be managed within the Brandify Dashboard. To learn more about Brandify and to start a free trial, feel free to contact us!